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The Afternoons with Amos PODCAST for Wednesday, May 13th. Everyone knows America is a religious country, founded on religious values. But we don’t know much about American’s religious preferences, including the religious preferences of African-Americans. Neither the government nor the Census asks questions of about people’s religions. But the Pew Research Center does as part of their Religious Landscape Study. The 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Study was based on telephone interviews with more than 35,000 Americans from all 50 states. This is the second time Pew Research Center conducted such a study. The first was in 2007, also with a telephone survey of more than 35,000 Americans. On Afternoons with Amos, (Beginning at the 09:40 Mark On Media Player) Amos shared with listeners the results of the study, especially the data on African-American religious habits. Among the findings for African-Americans: 79% of African-Americans are Christians; just 3% are non-Christians, mostly Muslim which comprise 2% of all African-American adults. Historically Black religious denomination, from Baptist, to Black Methodists, toe Black entacostals, together then comprise 53% of all Black adults.. Some 14% of Blacks belong to evangelic churches, just 4% to mainline Protestant denomination churches, while 5% of Blacks nationwide are Catholic; 2% are Jehovah’s Witness. The Pew Religious Landscape Study also found that 1% of Blacks were Atheist and another 1% were Agnostic. But some 16% believe in religion, but nothing in particular. Some 16% of African-Americans believe that religion is important but they fall in the “nothing in particular” category. Listeners reacted strongly throughout the entire program about the results of the survey and the role of the church and religion in the Black community. Click Here To Download The Full Pew Report. THE PEW 2014 RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE STUDY Also on this edition of Afternoons with Amos, (At The 50:50 Mark On Media Player) Amy Nelson with the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) reported on twenty civil rights organization filing a complaint against Fannie Mae for discriminatory practices in handling foreclosed homes in twenty areas across the country including Indianapolis. In the Afternoons with Amos interview, Nelson said that Fannie Mae had discriminated used race and national origin discrimination. In a complaint with HUD, FHCCI and the other civil rights group allege that Fannie Mae failed to maintain and market bank-owned foreclosures (also known as real estate owned or REO properties) in African American and Latino neighborhoods to the same standard as in White neighborhoods, a practice that violates the Federal Fair Housing Act. Nelson gave examples of the alleged discrimination and said that Fannie Mae’s practices were heklping rundown majority-minorioty Indianapolis neighborhoods and contribute to the blight of abandoned property that’s not beeing maintained by their owners. FHCCI examined the maintenance and marketing of bank-owned foreclosures/REOs for 39 different types of deficiencies, including: broken windows and doors, broken and obstructed gutters and downspouts, accumulated trash, overgrown lawns and shrubs, missing “for sale” signs, and other issues that affect curb appeal, the security of the home, and the value of the property. Click Here To Downtown FHCCI’s Report On the Problems With Fannie Mae in Indy. REPORT BY FAIR HOUSING CENTER OF CENTRAL INDIANA ON FANNIE MAE To Hear the Afternoons with Amos PODCAST For May 13th Use the Media Player Below. Runs 97 Minutes ©2015 WTLC/Radio One. Audio Starts After Brief Video Ad.
